FREEWAY FARCE: WEEK 8

WEEK 8 (Nov 19-Nov 25)

GIF that best represents the week for both the Kings and Ducks:

Good luck getting that image out of your head. But yes indeed, it’s Thanksgiving week, which means it’s time for a very special edition of Freeway Farce and time for Kings and Ducks fans to reflect on what they are truly thankful for.

Again, if any of these fine companies would like to send me some of their quality products, I don’t see any ethical conflict, mainly because I don’t have any ethics. That’s basically the TRH mission statement.

SHOOTOUT: WHO WON THE WEEK?

First Round, Stat Line of the Week:

Kings:

The Kings are struggling to score goals, and playing overtime games? I just don’t see how that can be true.

Ducks:

The Ducks have gotten really good goalie play out of all three of their net-minders this season. The two, other than Jonas Hiller, don’t have a single game of postseason experience, and none of the three goalies have been all that durable. You weigh all of this against the fact that the organization holds the rights to one of the best goalie prospects in all of hockey. It is going to be really interesting to see how the Ducks play their hand, and how it affects their ability to build a team that can actually make a run in the playoffs.

Second Round, War of Words:

On what the younger players can gain team-wise from the road trip: You get on long trips, you need four lines and six defensemen and two goalies. That was clear, and I don’t lump those guys together. You’ve got to make sure you don’t do that. They all play different positions, and clearly one player has outplayed the other two if you did it in a one-two-three order. So they’re all different. Quite honest, one of them last night was a game time decision whether I played him or not. Hopefully they learn something. [Reporter: With Vey – obvious question – is it great for him to be able to see Kopitar in person and watch him when the game is on the line in what’s needed to be done?] You learn in three different ways – we all do – by seeing it, by hearing it or doing it. SO hopefully he’s seeing it. It doesn’t matter if you’re a hockey player or whatever you are. That’s how you learn. Some of us are better in one way than another…In this environment, if a young player learns by seeing it better, than hearing about it or actually doing it, then good on him.

Winner: Hateable NHL stars

WINNER OF THE WEEK: In honor of Thanksgiving, a holiday for which the only purpose seems to be to eat as much food as possible, I can think of only one man…

A rambling man, Hrudey can't be tied to any one team. But because he's too cheap for NHL Gamecenter, his NHL universe consists only of Ducks and Kings broadcasts. What he lacks in knowledge of the actual sport of hockey, he makes up for in snark and pop culture references. You can follow Hrudey Can't Fail on Twitter @HrudeyCantFail.